Official Panasonic ST50 Series Discussion Thread [No Street Price Talk] - Page 63

Well first of all, are you watching in a very bright room? Black on a plasma can only get as low as the color of the actual screen in a bright room.

If not, sounds like a settings problem in the ps3 or tv. Have you made any changes to settings in either? Raising brightness should fix the issue, if not than what the tv or ps3 considers the blackest black is wrong. Is the "black level" setting in advanced picture submenu set to light? If its set to dark that would be the problem. Not sure what similar settings in ps3 are.

That review is one of the most idiotic reviews I've ever seen. ST50 isn't even being measured in half the measurements. I wouldn't trust the guy with my meal order, nevermind handling calibration equipment.

Could you post what your connections and settings are and maybe someone can really help you.

Well after returning my st30 due to some green pixelation, I bought a 55st50. I just set it up and started running the prep slides. No green or pink blobs.

I did notice the buzzing on it, especially when going through the brighter slides. It seems to quiet down with the darker ones though. It is louder than the st30, and I could notice it right away.

I realize that there is no perfect tv and every set might have its little quirks. Sometimes I wish I didn't discover this site so that I wouldn't be so picky when it comes to a set lol.

Started with d-nice custom settings and moved slightly from there. I found raising brightness and lowring gamma to 2.0 help but then blacks start looking grey. When o am watching it is in dark room. Ps3 is hooked via HDMI.

yep, i'm pretty sure you need to hunt for how to change the black level in the ps3 options. it will make a huge difference.

Did some searching on my ps3, looks like the setting under display setting called "rgb full range" could clip blacks if set incorrectly, does changing that setting fix the problem?

Also just to make sure, double check the setting on the Panasonic called "black level".

Black level on TV is set to light.

Changed RGB to Limited, didn't really notice any difference. I will continue to do some troubleshooting. I started by moving the WD Live to the panasonic and working with the same file. It seems to be slightly better on the one movie I have been working with lately. I am going to grab the bluray of this movie tomorrow and see how to true bluray looks on this TV as well as a smaller LCD and DLP.

Now one question that might eliminate a "middle man" how can I play MKV directly from the Panasonic? I have done a couple searches not pulling up much, but currently using PS3 Media Server as DLNA and none of the MKVs will play from the TV directly.

It sounds like a colorspace(RGB) issue. You may try setting the PS3 to a limited/expanded colorspace and matching the setting on the tv.

On the MKV thing, The tv won't do DTS and someone else had a suggestion of using "popcorn mkv" to convert to ac3 audio. I haven't tried it because Mezzmo is working fine through DLNA over the wireless.

My favorite line from this review

"For commercial breaks, credit sequences, and really dark scenes in movies, there's nothing like a plasma screen."

If that's what he really thinks that great black levels are for then he has no business reviewing televisions. I think he is nothing more than an LCD shill.

I'm starting to get doubts as well after reading this review. Everybody else is saying this is an improvement over the 30. But after reading this, should I spend less for the 30? I'm confused as well. Help folks.

Surely you're not giving any validity to that review. It's trash

It did get a 10.2 out of 10 for performance!

+1

Ok worries subsided. Trash review.

PS3 set color space to limited, Super White "on".

Read Chad's review he knows his stuff.

While this review is of dubious quality to say the least, I don't think he meant that exactly as you think. Of course black levels are for much more than he mentioned but in terms of commercial breaks, credit sequences and dark scenes as he mentioned he was spot on, a plasma TV rocks and nothing beats it in terms of overall black levels, not even the Elite as it starts to lose a small bit of black level when you view off axis.

I cannot find this option. Can you tell me where to find this?

Where do I find Chad's review? Thanks.

Clevelandplasma.com under 2012 Television Reviews.

I second that

Anyone having issues with the built-in Netflix playback? Whenever I watch Netflix, every 5-30 seconds (greatly varies) there seems to be a black flash on the entire screen for maybe 1 or 2 frames. I've tried different content (HD movie, a cartoon, and a documentary) and it happens with all of them.

It does not happen with my HTPC, Bluray, or other through the Panasonic YouTube player.

What's up with that? Known bug or weird isolated issue? Should I exchange it for a new TV?

Just use blue ray player to play Netflix. I have Netflix access on my tv, Xbox and blue ray. I found that Pannasonic 220 has the best out of the three for streaming quality, although the interface menu is slow. Xbox has the best Netflix interface but streaming is not as good as blue ray player. I wouldn't exchange the tv. Are you wireless or connected through Ethernet cable?

This is being caused by the resolution of the Netflix video stream automatically adjusting to bandwidth/network/server load changes. If you press the "Info" button on the TV remote the app will display the current res of the stream, and you can watch the changes coincide with the frame drops you're seeing.

that is dissapointing. i'm going to be depending on the netflix app built into the TV.

Well my 55" ST50 arrived today in perfect condition, and the guys set it up on the stand for me. I'm currently running D-Nice's slides according to his recommendations, making sure to follow all instructions for photo settings.

A couple quick thoughts so far (keeping in mind I just traded in my Samsung D7000 for this):

- The printed manual is a joke. It only covers the most basic of settings and setup. Instead of printing the manual in 3 different languages, but omitting almost everything, how about printing up a thorough manual in, you know, English, since I bought this set in North America. Yeah, I know it has a built-in manual, but that's besides the point. The printed manual could be way, way better.

- The frame and stand are nice, though of course more plastic than the D7000 had. Still a very nice looking frame.

- I'm very disappointed to discover that the stand does not swivel! Are you kidding me, Panasonic? The 50" model does but the 55" doesn't! Unbelievable. That's a major disappointment for me because it is quite difficult for me to get behind the set, which I do somewhat regularly, since all my pc, receiver and other cables are all behind the stand and sometimes I need access to those, as well as getting to the surge protector strip. How much would it have cost them to include a swivel stand - $2? Please, charge me $10 more for the set, I don't care, but give us the swivel stand!! Now I need to keep my eye on a swivel stand, which means money.

- Also very disappointed to learn here that the built-in media player does not handle DTS with mkv files! WOW! The D7000 did. Another huge disappointment that means I immediately need to purchase a media player now, or at least a new blu-ray player that supports mkv/DTS support. Why support mkv playback if DTS isn't supported? Huge disappointment because we really don't have any additional money for a media player right now - I knew this tv supported mkv so I figured it would get me by until the day I can afford a decent media player. More money.

- I am noticing some very slight pink discoloration around the bottom of the screen during the slides, noticeable when the grey slides are being displayed. I am hoping it will disappear during the initial break-in slides, but I don't know if it will or not. It's very minor and as of right now the set has only been on for about half an hour. I'll report back on this after my break-in is finished. I'm hoping by the time the slides are done, and I use D-Nice's settings, hopefully that will be gone.

- Buzzing. Very disappointed right away with the buzzing. I can tell you that I owned the D7000 for almost a year, and I sat right next to it when I used my pc, since it is very close to the tv stand, and I never - never - heard any buzzing. I had to literally put my ear to the D7000 to hear the very slight buzz coming from that set. Right now, I can easily hear the buzzing from about 3 feet away. I don't know if people here would consider it abnormally loud since everyone has a different threshold for what they consider loud, but compared to my D7000, it is loud. Right now my pc is on too and the fans are quite loud in my pc, and I can hear the buzz over the pc fans. When I get right over the tv I can really hear the buzz.

So far, since I have no experience with the picture quality since I'm running the slides, I can only comment on my initial impressions. And so far, it's a mixed bag. No swivel stand, no DTS support, noticeably loud buzzing, and a slight pink tint near the bottom - all make me a bit nervous. I'll certainly give it a chance, and hopefully the image will be so good that I can overlook some shortcomings. I hate the thought of returning back to Samsung. Cautiously optimistic.

Since I'm running break-in slides I cannot check that, but this weekend hopefully I'll give Netflix a try and see what happens. I'll report back on this after I try it.

Check this out for swiveling. http://www.magicsliders.com/

If you place the sliders in each corner, I doubt you'll lose any stability and you'll have no trouble swiveling. You could also place 4 in the corners and one each in the front and rear center if you really want to distribute the weight.

I'd go for the thinners, smallest of the sliders. If those make you uncomfortable, any Home Depot or Lowe's will also have the felt stickies you can put on furniture feet. They are even thinner and should give you a nice, invisible "swivel" effect.